Yrak Saenz is a Cuban hip hop artist, and is well-known as part of the rap duo, Doble Filo. He lives in Miami Shores at his second home with his wife and child and returns back to the island to see his Cuban son, friends and family regularly.

He grew up in the Alamar neighborhood of Havana, generally known as the birthplace of Cuban rap. Doble Filo participated in hip hop festivals in the late 90’s where they won the grand prize in 1996 by performing a song called Al Doblar de la Esquina. They recorded this song at the studio of Silvio Rodriguez and it was one of the first official recordings of Cuban rap.

Over the next 10 years rap in Cuba was embraced by the government and other underground groups were formed as well. “…the underground rappers would not exist if it weren’t for groups like Primera Base and Doble Filo, the first wave of rappers in Cuba that introduced rap music into the consciousness of Cuban culture, spearheaded the movement and laid the groundwork for new avenues of expression. About 7 years ago, the new generation of rappers began to appear: Los Aldeanos, Silvito Libre, Eskuadron Patriota…Yrak says that these groups should not dismiss the likes of Doble Filo and Primera Base. People can’t think about a future if they disregard the past, he says, adding, you have to know where you came from to know where you’re going. Back in the day, Doble Filo too voiced their opinions. But their style was more subtle, he says. They used metaphorical lyrics and selective wordplay to describe the discontent with day to day life in Havana…” (Content quoted and paraphrased from an article written by Jan Sochor.)